Brooder



J V AND C. L. STAUFFER.

BBOODER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-15,1919- Patented Mar. 14, 1922,

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WW 5 M Sam ZQAMLW UNITED STATES PATENT orrlcs.

J VIRGIL STAUFFER AND CLARENCE L. STAUFFER, OF WAKA'RUSA, INDIANA.

BROODER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

Application filedDecember 15, 1919. Serial No. 345,091.

invented certain new and: useful Improvements in Brooders, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to brooders, or brooder houses as they are sometimes called, for the protection and comfort of small animals, particularly recently hatched poultry.

Young chicks when fresh from the incubator in the first few weeks of their lives need special care and protection. They need to be protected, mothered and kept warm. It is our object and desire to produce a structure especially adapted to the needs of such fowls, no matter what the weather. Such a structure must, therefore, be warm and dry in chilly and wet weather, and if the weather is cold it should be provided with means whereby they may be sheltered from cold blasts and permitted to bask in the sun and afforded a place to warm them selves'and otherwise provided with'comforts suited to their needs and development.

Inthe drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view, of our structure.

Fig. 2 a side view of the front part, with thewindows, which form a part of the device, in one position.

Fig. 3 is a view of the same with the windows and other parts in another position.

. Fig. 4: is a rear view oft-he house.

Fig. 5 is a somewhat enlarged section.

Fig.6 is a front view on a somewhat larger scale.

In the drawings we show. a brooder house which may be ofany length and the front only of which is the special subject of this invention.

This front constitutes the front section carrying the windows and other features which form a part of our device, and to it may be attached various sections extendnumber of uprights 2 and a series of roofing boards 3 covered with the aforesaid waterproof material. We also provide walls a, and the waterproof material extends down over these'walls. c of course provide a floor 5, and the structure is designed to rest upon suitable supports such as two by-fours 6. These supports or sills are of course, of moderate height.

To this front framework we attach two windows 7 hinged at the top so that they may be turned upward. These windows, it Will be noted, are somewhatlonger than and are hlnged at somewhat greater height than the walls. We also provide a third window 8 which constitutes the middle window of the three front windows, and this window 8 is hinged at its top to a side hinged window 9 so that the window 8 may be turned up in the same plane as the other windows 7 if desired, leaving the top window 9 in closed position, or it may be swung to one side with the top window 9 so as to move the front of the structure entirely open to shield from or deflect cold winds or for any other purpose.

The walls are provided with extensions 10 which reach beyond the front for a space proportioned to the length of the window 7 so that the said window 7 may extend over and reach the far ends of the walls 10, as shown in Fig. 8, thus providing a roof for a compartment of which the walls are the ends.

The floor also is made to extend forward from the front of the structure approximately the same distance as the walls, and to the outer edge of the floor we hinge an extension or runway 11 which forms an incline up and down which the ClllCkS may Fig. 3-; and complete the enclosure. Vhen this is done and the windows are let down there is provided an almost completely enclosed front porch or sun parlor for the tiny chicks in the first week or so of their lives, whereby means are provided for them to sun themselves, the structure being intended to be placed to face the south so that even in really chilly weather they are pro-- tected and sunned. The sun is advantageous not only for its warmth but also for disinfectant and therapeutic purposes. At the 15 v7 may abut.

same time an opening is left between the chicks may creep run and theside walls of sufficient size to afford adequate ventilation for even a considerable number of chicks. Of course in 5 real warm weather the windows 7 may be i turned into quite horizontal position and suspended by friction hinges or by suspending cords 12. The middlewindow of the lower series may be turned up against the 10 horizontally swinging upper one, and the latter may be swung to open position as 1ndicated in Fig. 2.

e provide shedding blocks or rain deflecting pieces 13 against which the windows We also provide in the extreme top of the v structure an opening let for ventilating purposes and we also have a similar opening 15 in the rear.

After the chicks are a week or ten days old the part 11 may be lowered to the ground in suitable weather to allow the chicks to run out doors, particularly in the mild part of a winter day. Since the floor is raised. but a 26 few inches and since the walls are of considerable height, the part 11. forms essentially, when lowered, a gently inclined exten- 'sion of the porch floor and an easy bankor slope for getting in and out of doors.

30 Our object is to produce a device which, while enabling us to protect and guard the young fowls in the very early stages of their lives, will also enable us to harden them somewhat to a healthy condition as they mature. 1

We provide in our brooder at the rear a hover v16 hinged to a cross piece 17 of the framework, and warmed by suitable stove 1.8 surrounded by a guard 19. This'hover 40 when not in use may be turned up and secured against the rear wall of the structure by a hook 20. The stove is fed from an oil tank 21 through a suitable regulating valve 22. The hover forms specifically the subject of a separate application filed herewith and numbered 345,090.

We thus have produced a house which willbe large enough to admit a person for the purpose of cleaning and looking after the young chicks, '&c., and at the same time not so large as to be drafty. We have pro 'vided ample means for ventilating; we have provided a novel device for sunning the chickens; we have provided means whereby an enclosed sun parlor s made for cold 'sunny'weather, the same being adapted in part at least to permit the chicks to escape to larger range as they grow older. It is a fact that'young chicks, when they become chilled in the natural state resort to the mothers wings for warmth, and when "they have become sufficiently warm. they leave that shelter. WVe have provided in connection with the front of our structure .56 herein detailed a hover under which'the and where they may bask in the warmth they need. Our stove may be provided with a bright'heat radiating flame, or thechicks may get the warmth they desire from the heated air restrained by the hover. They areat alltimes free to escape either into the larger area of the brooding house or intothe outside to the porch, or, if the part 11 is lowered, to the out door range provided for them.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new anddes'ire to secure-by Letters Patent is 1-. In a brooder house, in combination a runway as wide as the walls'are high hinged to the outer edge of said slightly raised floor and adapted to be turned up tomeet the 1 ends of the walls to form with said walls an enclosure for young fowls and windows, arranged so as to be moved out to protect the space thus enclosed or back'to fit in the front of the section. r V s 2. In a brooder house, in combination, a front section for said house, a roof, vertically hung windows hinged at their'tops to the frame of said section, walls for said front extending to near to the tops of said windows, and extending horizontally beyond'thewindows, a slightly raised floor for said. section and extension, and a runway platform hinged to said floor extension, said platform forming when lowered a means for easy access of the chicks to and from the ground and also adapted to be turned up against the ends of the walls, thewindowsadapted to be turned outward and forming with the" 7 runway and walls an enclosed sun-heated outdoor space for youngchicks. V

Ina brooder house, in combination, a

front section for said house, having roof,

sides and floor, extensions for said floor and sides, sills on which said floor is slightly raised, a runway h nged to the floor and adapted to be swung up to meet the. wall extensions or don-n to afford easy access by the chicks to the ground, hin ed windows in thesaid front adapted to be swung out in a vertical plane over the floorextension to form a cover over an enclosed, sun-warmed place, and a window above the windowmentioned adapted to. be swung on a vertioat hinge. V 7

4,111 a brooder house, in combination, a front section, having walls, floor and roof, floor and wall extensions and four windows for said front., said windows arranged in two tiers, three -below and one above, the two end ones of'the lower tier hinged to the frame work to swing upward and outward, and the middle one hinged to the upper window sash to swing upward and outward, said upper sash arranged to swing outward.

5. In a brooder house, in combination, a front for said house, roof, sides and floor for said front, an extension or porch, windows in said front adapted to swing out to form a sun-parlor on said porch, a runway hinged to the outer edge of the floor and adapted to afford means for the chicks to reach the ground or to be turned up to form part of the porch enclosure, a hover in said brooder house, and a stove for said house, whereby chicks in said house may be enabled to keep themselves warmed, sunned and dry in wet weather or to have ground range in dry weather.

6. In a brooder house, in combination, a front for said house, wall extensions, a floor extension for said house, a hinged runway, and out-swinging windows hinged over said extension and adapted to cover the space enclosed by the walls, floor and runway, so as to form a sun-warmed and protected space for chicks, said runway also adapted when swung to a lower posltion to enable the chicks to get to and from the ground.

7. In a brooder house in combination, a front for said house, sills, a floor on said sills, walls, wall extensions extending beyond the front, a floor extension extending beyond the front, adjustable, swinging windows in said front, said windows adapted in dimensions and position to be swung out to cover part or all of the space enclosed by said floor and walls, and ad'ustable means whereby the space between t e walls at the outside of the floor may be closed as desired, said means also adapted to form a runwa extension from the floor to the ground.

n testimony whereof, we have affixed our signatures.

J VIRGIL STAUFFER. CLARENCE L. STAUFFER. 

